Scan barcode
radusreads's review against another edition
4.5
Loved everything about this one! It has gossip girl and lady whistledown drama happening but online and poor Samaya who had been broken up with before the summer is the center of all the tea. Her ex bf/friend is back when school starts up again and now with someone she knows. So her friends help her by posting a pic with her and the guy she's been playing online games with.
This turns into a huge problem as the guy in the picture is a guy at her new volunteer job and not the guy she was talking to online.
This was so sweet and had so many different important topics that are important for teens to hear about organically. Like gossip, toxic relationships, your worth isn't tied to your academic success or relationship partner. Also real life realities such as homelessness and extreme privilege. Also not putting everyone in a box by type and judging by their interests.
Thank you skyscape
This turns into a huge problem as the guy in the picture is a guy at her new volunteer job and not the guy she was talking to online.
This was so sweet and had so many different important topics that are important for teens to hear about organically. Like gossip, toxic relationships, your worth isn't tied to your academic success or relationship partner. Also real life realities such as homelessness and extreme privilege. Also not putting everyone in a box by type and judging by their interests.
Thank you skyscape
starsbookishhollow's review against another edition
hopeful
Thank you so much to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Smart girl Samaya is dumped by who she thought was her picture-perfect boyfriend. Her job is sabotaged and her ex starts dating her enemy. Samaya isn’t winning the breakup until she meets Daniel. Daniel offers to fake date her in exchange for tutoring. What could possibly go wrong?
A lot could go wrong. And they did. However, it was handled very well. Elitism was a theme throughout the story and Samaya learning about her own was very well done. Daniel and Samaya had a very cute relationship and I was rooting for them the whole way through. As someone who’s half South Asian, the representation was on point.
Overall, it was a fun read and I’d recommend it to fans of Jennifer Yen and her book A Taste for Love!
bookish_selkie's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
How to Win a Breakup is the excellent story of Samaya- a talented gamer who just got dumped by her boyfriend, the school’s golden boy. Suddenly, the school is questioning Samaya’s math skills and ability to game. It’s unbearable- so Samaya leaks a picture of her with her online friend. It should be harmless- until she meets them in real life while getting her community service hours. However, some of what her online friend has said doesn’t match with Daniel in real life. Samaya must uncover who she was cat-fished by and why. Luckily, Daniel agrees to be her fake boyfriend to help with the cruel gossip. Samaya is horrified when she starts to develop feelings for the funny and sweet Daniel, which is strictly against their fake-dating rules. Samaya must choose if she will go against the parameters Daniel set for them and decide how much she cares about what her friends think…
Farah Heron is becoming one of my auto-buy authors!! I love how immersive and warm her writing is. Samaya and Daniel both feel so realistic and the type of people you’d want to be friends with. Heron’s writing is witty, while not shying away from important real-world issues such as discrimination, homelessness, and mental health. I loved how the fictional game felt so real! I became so invested in Samaya finding her way and deciding what/who was truly important to her. Samaya’s best friend Cass is another one of my favorite characters! I really enjoyed how they were so supportive of Samaya and also knew when to give her tough love.
How to Win a Breakup has fake dating, gender role reversals, and excellent representation. This book would be perfect for fans of Emma Lord, Talia Hibbert, and Tashie Bhuiyan. I would highly recommend it to anyone and I can’t wait to read what Farah Heron writes next!!
Thank you to Farah Heron, Skyscape, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Farah Heron is becoming one of my auto-buy authors!! I love how immersive and warm her writing is. Samaya and Daniel both feel so realistic and the type of people you’d want to be friends with. Heron’s writing is witty, while not shying away from important real-world issues such as discrimination, homelessness, and mental health. I loved how the fictional game felt so real! I became so invested in Samaya finding her way and deciding what/who was truly important to her. Samaya’s best friend Cass is another one of my favorite characters! I really enjoyed how they were so supportive of Samaya and also knew when to give her tough love.
How to Win a Breakup has fake dating, gender role reversals, and excellent representation. This book would be perfect for fans of Emma Lord, Talia Hibbert, and Tashie Bhuiyan. I would highly recommend it to anyone and I can’t wait to read what Farah Heron writes next!!
Thank you to Farah Heron, Skyscape, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
authoralliesarah's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a cute read! I’ll be honest- I totally thought that Daniel and LostAxis were the same person going into the book. This was a really great twist on the online/real life tripe. I couldn’t put the book down! (Literally. I was up until 3:40am.) The characters are great, especially Daniel, Samaya, and Cass. (I’m so happy how Cass’ story ended)
emmreadsbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cute baking and video game YA contemporary? It's like Emm bait. But it truly was adorable and SUCH. a quick read. (Literally the palate cleanser I needed so I could actually fall asleep after the horror book I finished previously)
Farah Heron knows how to write fake dating and slow burn romances, it's an art. I loved the various plot arcs, from the Lady Whistledown style gossip instagram to the game development club. It was busy, but so is high school. Samaya comes into her own in this book as she discovers that life DOES exist outside of videogames and high school clout. Daniel is, of course, the sweetest bumbleberry pie hockey himbo and a fabulous foil to Sam. It was also such fun seeing Tahira being a doting older sister and chasing her fashion dreams. Overall just a precious book for when you need something HAPPY to read.
*Thank you to Skyscape and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
Farah Heron knows how to write fake dating and slow burn romances, it's an art. I loved the various plot arcs, from the Lady Whistledown style gossip instagram to the game development club. It was busy, but so is high school. Samaya comes into her own in this book as she discovers that life DOES exist outside of videogames and high school clout. Daniel is, of course, the sweetest bumbleberry pie hockey himbo and a fabulous foil to Sam. It was also such fun seeing Tahira being a doting older sister and chasing her fashion dreams. Overall just a precious book for when you need something HAPPY to read.
*Thank you to Skyscape and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*
sammytvo's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I love the diverse characters with different cultures and life experiences. I love all the baked goods like I was craving lemon squares (and i’ve never had a lemon square). I love the premise of the book with a math-genius gamer girl teaming up with a sunshine, hockey player who loves to bake, to form a fake relationship. However, I personally felt like the execution wasn’t the best.
The book starts off with so much information being told to the reader all at once. I’m sure the information was important towards the main character’s thought progress and story but it just felt like too much background! Like I didn’t need to know that the main character went to math class and took an exam. It felt like I experienced a whole school day with her in the first few chapters (how exhausting)
I understand building a foundation for the plot but it felt so chaotic with so much going on for the main character! I lowkey had headaches trying to keep up! like there's an anonymous gossip account that for some reason is obsessed with the main character's love life. there’s a mystery surrounding the identity of her gaming partner. the question of who took the picture of Daniel at the shelter. With all this happening, there's also the main(?) plot of Samaya fake dating to convince everyone she's over her ex while trying to build a gaming app!!
The book had an overwhelming beginning along with a tedious pacing. So, once the real plot actually began (20% in), I was already getting bored!
Throughout the book, Samaya is too focused trying to navigate through all these problems, that the book ended up being about said problems! I couldn’t really connect with Samaya because of this and that there wasn’t much depth to her character. I love Daniel’s character tho! He felt like a nice reprieve from everything! Honestly I wish we got more of him or his pov! Sam and Daniel were cute too! I would’ve liked to see more of their romance/relationship!
I feel like some of the dialogue between some characters felt inserted instead of genuine conversation. Like the author wrote in dialogue for the purpose to create a “connection” between characters and move the story along. I feel like the author should build more on the relationships between the characters instead all the different conflicts going on.
Also, at times, it felt like the transition to one scene to the next felt abrupt! For example, there would be dialogue still being spoken and then it would skip to a different scene.
Honestly I was expecting a cute romance but this book just gave me stress from mentally trying to keep with all the things
I love the diverse characters with different cultures and life experiences. I love all the baked goods like I was craving lemon squares (and i’ve never had a lemon square). I love the premise of the book with a math-genius gamer girl teaming up with a sunshine, hockey player who loves to bake, to form a fake relationship. However, I personally felt like the execution wasn’t the best.
The book starts off with so much information being told to the reader all at once. I’m sure the information was important towards the main character’s thought progress and story but it just felt like too much background! Like I didn’t need to know that the main character went to math class and took an exam. It felt like I experienced a whole school day with her in the first few chapters (how exhausting)
I understand building a foundation for the plot but it felt so chaotic with so much going on for the main character! I lowkey had headaches trying to keep up! like there's an anonymous gossip account that for some reason is obsessed with the main character's love life. there’s a mystery surrounding the identity of her gaming partner. the question of who took the picture of Daniel at the shelter. With all this happening, there's also the main(?) plot of Samaya fake dating to convince everyone she's over her ex while trying to build a gaming app!!
The book had an overwhelming beginning along with a tedious pacing. So, once the real plot actually began (20% in), I was already getting bored!
Throughout the book, Samaya is too focused trying to navigate through all these problems, that the book ended up being about said problems! I couldn’t really connect with Samaya because of this and that there wasn’t much depth to her character. I love Daniel’s character tho! He felt like a nice reprieve from everything! Honestly I wish we got more of him or his pov! Sam and Daniel were cute too! I would’ve liked to see more of their romance/relationship!
I feel like some of the dialogue between some characters felt inserted instead of genuine conversation. Like the author wrote in dialogue for the purpose to create a “connection” between characters and move the story along. I feel like the author should build more on the relationships between the characters instead all the different conflicts going on.
Also, at times, it felt like the transition to one scene to the next felt abrupt! For example, there would be dialogue still being spoken and then it would skip to a different scene.
Honestly I was expecting a cute romance but this book just gave me stress from mentally trying to keep with all the things
sydneyd05's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was super cute and I enjoyed watching Samaya's growth. Daniel was so cute and such a good person who loves her so much. I loved seeing them bake together and develop their relationship. I understand why she was trying to stay friends with her ex's friends but I wish she would have dropped them sooner.
I received an arc through netgalley.
I received an arc through netgalley.
domi_is_reading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0